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<title>God's Small Mercies by callmecloudybutdontreally</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23063080">God's Small Mercies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmecloudybutdontreally/pseuds/callmecloudybutdontreally'>callmecloudybutdontreally</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>CountryHumans [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>CountryHumans, Geography (Anthropomorphic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:35:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23063080</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmecloudybutdontreally/pseuds/callmecloudybutdontreally</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During the London Blitz, Britain has a lot of time to think about the war, and all the things that will plague him. There are some small mercies of the war, though.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>England &amp; France (Anthropomorphic), England &amp; Wales (Anthropomorphic), England/France (Anthropomorphic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>CountryHumans [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1599724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>God's Small Mercies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>500 words exactly, just my goal. It's short and can be read quite quickly, but I'm actually very happy with this piece.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Everything hurt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Burns covered Britain’s skin, nasty boils and painful blisters following, cuts dripping infected pus, and purple and black bruises covering his body. His legs looked twisted and broken, yet he didn’t feel much of it, more the pain in his chest from where London had been struck. If he’d just had more time, he would’ve been able to get more children out of the city, maybe even some women to take care of them. Not just the small amount of children he knew actually made it out. If he'd had it his way, he would’ve gotten them all out, the women, children, and the elderly or disabled. Any blokes he found would be sent to war.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>France had been with him, in his pitiful state, and had been careful in covering the wounds, hoping to keep it out of the public eye. He wouldn’t ever feel much of it, more the burning sear as the bombs struck the buildings, as people were crushed under thousands of pounds of cement, as children screamed for their mothers, as men were shot and burned. He didn’t need to be kept in a hospital - not in this dire time, and especially not when his Prime Minister relied on his knowledge. Not when his people relied on what intel he could give.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not when the other countries could see how weak he was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Germany or Japan caught wind of this, the effects could only be catastrophic. More raids would be launched, more towns would be destroyed, the efforts would be doubled. Everything would be a thousandfold worse, and that was just at the surface. America was neutral, and even if the colonies did decide that they wanted to help their father, they were outnumbered by at least thirty, if not more. Who knew how many kids America had adopted, at this point?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And asking the USSR for assistance was out of the question. None of the Soviet states were going to be willing to help him, so there wasn’t much of a point in him even asking the children to go against their father and help. The Red Army was under the control of the communist anyways.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he was on his own. He kept pushing on, trying to keep people from looking as he marched (as best as he could, and even then that was a harsh limp) to the boats. They needed to evacuate, once more, and they were all in his land. Wales would assist him, as would Scotland and North, but he couldn’t count on Ireland for assistance. France was too weak at this point to take people into her country, and even then the Nazis would continue their assault on her, as brutal and inhumane as it was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is Angelica?” Britain questions Wales, pity in his eyes. She’s burnt as well, but the water flowing from her skin is helping with it.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s across the Irish Sea,” Wales responds. “Away from the Nazis.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>God’s small mercies.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And yes, Northern Ireland exists at this point. The division between the North and South of Ireland began during the Potato Famine, due to the North saying yes to becoming British, hence the harsh relationship between the two. Ireland has been split into two, is currently recovering from his war of independence, and he still has a strong disliking of Britain at this point, hence why he probably won't be much help, though he is accepting them due to being</p></blockquote></div></div>
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